After Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry revealed two amazing stories about playing against Kobe Bryant on Hot Ones with Sean Evans, video of the two former MVPs facing off early in Curry’s career is going viral.
Respect from Bryant is one of the biggest possible badges of honor for players of Curry’s generation, and the now-legendary shooter did admit to being a bit starstruck by facing Bryant in the first few seasons of his career. But Bryant’s respect for Curry from early on was obvious: In the first game between the two, Curry made a tough midrange jumper after a pump-fake, and the broadcast feed immediately pans to Bryant on the bench mouthing “he’s nice” to a teammate.
Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer spliced together video of the moment with the interview:
I dug up the videos from Stephen Curry’s stories about Kobe Bryant https://t.co/Ciyf8FJl2B pic.twitter.com/oteAi6cKX6
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) July 27, 2023
In another story Curry cherishes, Bryant elected to pick him up defensively full court to try to disrupt Curry’s rhythm. It worked, bumping Curry off his spot near halfcourt… until the Warriors' sniper pulled up from deep and sunk the three. In a sign of respect, Bryant tapped Curry from behind as the two ran back down the court.
“It was the biggest ‘keep your cool’ moment in your life, because it’s freakin’ Kobe,” Curry said. “You’re trying to be super chill about it, but I just drained one from 30 [feet] on him.”
But on the inside, Curry was beaming, revealing he went in during halftime of the game and wanted to see the clip of the shot again and again.
Hearing stories about Kobe never gets old.
